The human hand includes metacarpals that are associated with the fingers of the hand, and each metacarpal varies from the other metacarpals in length. This variance in the lengths of the metacarpals creates a void in a mid-palmer space of the hand when the hand is cupped or closed. Thus, the structure of a human hand is well suited for gripping a spherical shaped object, such as an orange or a baseball, because spherical shaped objects tend to fill the void. However, when a person attempts to grab an object having a generally cylindrical shaped handle, such as a baseball bat or a golf club, the third and fourth metacarpals, respectively associated with the middle and ring fingers, are in a position that minimizes the amount of direct pressure the third and fourth metacarpals may exert on the handle. Consequently, the third and fourth metacarpals minimally contribute to the force exerted by the hand on the object having a generally cylindrical shaped handle. The person's control over objects having a generally cylindrical shaped handle is limited to the amount of direct surface contact between the metacarpals of the hand and the handle.
Various types of gloves have been developed to provide a wearer with better handling of non-spherical shaped objects while also providing some protection to the wearer's hand. One example is a cycling glove having a thinly padded palm surface between the cyclist's palm and a handle grip of a bicycle. The cycling gloves provide the cyclist with a firm grasp of the handle grip for long periods of time when moisture tends to develop and accumulate on the cyclist's palm. Another example is a batter's glove having very thin padding, if any padding at all, along a palm surface and a tactile surface also along the palm surface for providing a batter with "tacky" hands. The batter's glove provides the batter with minimal hindrance to grasping and holding a bat while providing a protective barrier between the hand and the bat to minimize callous development. Additionally, the tactile surface of the batter's glove acts to increase the frictional force between the batter's hand and the bat to enhance the batter's ability to maintain a firm grip on the bat. Another example is a weight-lifter's glove having a moderately padded palm surface similar to the previously described cycling glove. The weight-lifter's glove provides padding between a weight-lifter's hand and a weight bar.
Although standard gloves, such as those described above, provide protection to the wearer's hand and assist the wearer with grasping objects, the wearer's control of the grasped object is sacrificed to an extent because the objects are non-spherically shaped. For example, when grasping the handle grip of the bicycle, the padding in the cycling gloves tend to gather together to impede the cyclist's ability to grasp the handle grip. Likewise, when grasping the weight bar, the padding in the weight-lifter's gloves also tends to gather as the weight-lifter grabs the bar. The batter's glove depends on the "tackiness" of the tactile palm surface to assist the batter with holding the bat, but the maximum amount of control and handling force the hand may apply on the bat is reduced by the void that remains in the mid-palmer space of the hand. The term "mid-palmer space" is defined herein to mean the space formed in the palm of the hand between the object and the hand.
Thus, a need exists for a sports glove that enables a wearer to firmly and comfortably grasp objects having a generally cylindrical shape. Further needed is a glove that improves the wearer's ability to grasp and wield an object having a generally cylindrical shape while maximizing the amount of handling force the wearer's hand applies to the object.